10 November 2005

More on France...or is it Moron France? Well, the French have problems. They are systemic and have nothing to do with whether French people are nice to Americans. I know more nice French people than not-nice ones (I don't know many in absolute terms) and I don't feel like blaming all French people for these riots. Nevertheless, these are systemic problems. John Vinocur, a writer for the International Herald Tribune, writes a scalding critique of the embedded hypocrisy of French society. Based on what has happened there, our political divides seem relatively minor by comparison. It can't help but bolster my already high degree of American superiority vis-a-vis the failure of the European Welfare state.